


Of bento boxes, bullying and pretending not to care

by yumenohateni



Category: Gokusen (TV)
Genre: Bullying, Childhood Friends, Developing Friendships, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:15:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25517140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yumenohateni/pseuds/yumenohateni
Summary: Hayato finds the perks—and downsides—of being a rumored psycho on the first day at his new school.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 5





	Of bento boxes, bullying and pretending not to care

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Tamuril2](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tamuril2/gifts).



> First of all: this is unbetaed, I'll probably read it over in a few days to check for typos and whatnot.
> 
> Prequel to [Of first and second meetings](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23990485) following Tamuril2's prompt _"I kinda hope/wish you will write a sequel that shows Ryuu sharing his lunch. It'd be awesome if it was from Hayato's POV."_
> 
> Actually, now that I think about it, Tamuril2 asked for a sequel and I wrote a prequel. I'm sorry I'm a total klutz, I hope you'll still like it.

Yabuki Hayato opens the door of the classroom and the two petite girls who were chattering at the desk nearest the door hurriedly get up and literally _run_ to get out of there as fast as possible using the door on the other side of the room.

Hayato huffs a laugh and lazily walks towards his desk at the back and beside the window. He couldn’t believe his luck that morning when he was told where he’d sit.

He’s actually a little glad somebody from his old school is seemingly friends with somebody from this new school and that person started the rumor that he beat those stupid assholes to a pulp—even before he got actually transferred here.

Anyone would think being a rumored psycho would be awful, but Hayato’s always swum against the current. It’s only his first day here but, so far, he is enjoying the fact he doesn’t have to deal with anyone’s bullshit because everyone’s too scared to speak to him. Even bullies avoid him like the plague, so he’s glad he doesn’t have to deal with that, either.

Seriously, being infamous is not that bad unless you forget to ask your dad for some money before leaving home to buy a curry bread and some green tea in the konbini on the way to school and can’t borrow some from anyone because nobody will even look you in the eye. _That’s the only downside to all this_ , Hayato thinks and slowly rubs his abdomen when his guts complain too loudly about the lack of food.

Voices can be heard coming from the corridors, and soon Hayato’s classmates come back from wherever they were and start filling the classroom, chatting about school life and whatnot while going to their desks and getting out their bento boxes. Their mouthwateringly nice, picture perfect bento boxes with apparently delicious homemade food their mothers made for them.

Hayato’s stomach loudly growls again and he lets out a fake cough to cover it up. Nobody even notices, as everyone’s too busy eating their own meals to notice the new weird kid is not having any lunch.

He didn’t even have anything for breakfast that morning, as he got up late and this new school is further away from his home than his former one.

He’s considering maybe getting out early and going home to have something to eat. Certainly nobody will miss him on his first day. And he couldn’t care less if he got detention for this. He’s starving, _dammit_ , and to top it all off, the kid sitting in front of him has the most luxurious bento he’s seen in his freaking life. He’s got like five types of different miniature meals—he’s even got some _sushi_!—with cute little toothpicks in the forms of various animals and carrots and other vegetables carefully cut to resemble flowers and leaves.

It’s amazing really. This kid’s mom must love him so much. And he’s probably loaded too.

Hayato feels his stomach growling once again and doubles over in pain. When he straightens again, though, the kid sitting in front of him has turned over and is looking at him funnily.

Hayato frowns at the other boy wearing what he hopes is a menacing expression so he’ll turn around again in fear, but the boy simply holds his stare for a little while—not really bothered by Hayato’s glare. After a few seconds, he turns his bored eyes to Hayato’s stomach for a moment and then finally turns back to face the front again. Hayato stares at the kid’s back with a confused frown now, puzzled at the whole interaction.

 _What the hell’s his problem?_ , Hayato thinks and then snorts. _Rich brats._

Hayato notices something moving from the corner of his eye and when he detaches his eyes from the back of the kid’s neck, he sees the teacher is walking down from the front of the classroom to his desk. _I didn’t even do anything wrong this time_ , he thinks, hunching in a bit on himself.

“Yabuki,” the teacher says, his voice harsh. Hayato knows the man despises him already. He can feel it in the hard tone and unforgiving stare the man seems to have used for him only during his whole day there. He hasn’t given Hayato even a chance to prove himself worthy—believing the rumors before even meeting the boy. Hayato can’t say he’s surprised, as he knows from experience that teachers are the worst, but he wasn’t expecting to be hated without a cause. That’s a new one.

“Where’s your lunch?”

Hayato wants to reply something along the lines of ‘none of your business’ or ‘what the fuck do you care’, but he’s not in the mood to get detention today. He wants to rush home after school as soon as possible and eat something before his stomach starts consuming itself or something. He turns to look disinterestedly to the front again with his hands in his pockets, not staring back at the man.

“I don’t have any. I woke up late this morning and-” he stops. No point in explaining things to people who don’t want to hear them. “I don’t have any.”

The teacher looks him up and down. Weighing. Hayato tries not to squirm under the intense scrutiny. It’s as if the man is pondering whether Hayato will beat up one of his classmates for their lunch or run off and play truant for the rest of the day to stuff his face with food at home or the nearest konbini.

“Okay,” the man says after a minute and walks off, apparently content with finding Hayato’s starving but not planning on doing anything about it. Better starved than troublesome.

“Fucking teachers,” Hayato mutters venomously under his breath to the man’s retreating back, and when he looks to the side, he notices the boys and girls sitting near him to his right are all staring at him with wide eyes.

 _Great_ , he thinks and turns to his left, looking out the window at the non-judgmental trees and clouds.

His stomach growls again and Hayato closes his eyes and wishes for it to _shut the fuck up_ already and stop reminding him about the fact he doesn’t have anything for lunch and everyone hates him here or is scared of him or _both_ and the teacher thinks he’s a good-for-nothing, dumb punk who’s gonna beat up his perfect students and-

And there’s a sleek black open bento sitting on his desk. Hayato blinks twice.

The rich kid that had been sitting in front of him until minutes ago is now standing beside him and handing him a pair of black chopsticks.

Hayato looks him in the eye with a confused frown, and the kid snorts.

“I washed them, don’t worry,” he says by means of an explanation and Hayato numbly takes the chopsticks completely taken aback. His eyes go from the kid down to the bento and then up again to the kid, not really getting why this perfectly homemade—albeit not that full anymore—bento is now placed on his desk.

“What-” Hayato starts.

“I’m not hungry anymore. It was too much food,” the boy simply explains and shrugs nonchalantly.

“But- why?” Hayato asks, already eyeing the perfectly rolled tamagoyaki and the group of shiny cherry tomatoes.

“As I told you, I’m full. It would be a waste to throw this out and you forgot your lunch at home. It’s only logical”.

Hayato can’t help but snort at this skinny tiny boy’s words. _It’s only logical?_ Why’s the kid speaking like he’s thirty years old?

He doesn’t bother to explain there was no homemade lunch for him at home. He buys konbini onigiris most of the time, as even the konbini lunchboxes are a little over his budget.

“Uhm, thank you, I guess?” Hayato says and scratches the back of his head a little self-consciously. He’d normally be too proud to accept anything from anybody, lest a rich kid. But he’s too hungry to decline an almost full bento with luxurious food and- _are those tiny mozzarella bites?_

“Sure,” the kid grunts and sniffs, trying to play cool while he shuffles awkwardly on his feet.

After some seconds during which Hayato’s eyes go back and forth between the kid and the bento a few times, the other boy seems to realize Hayato is impatient to dig in and stuff his face with all the assorted types of tiny little foods inside the black box and so he simply hurries over to his seat.

(Well, ‘hurries’ would be a bit of a stretch, as the kid has this disinterested way of moving, as if he just doesn’t care about anything in the world, not even time.)

“Itadakimasu,” Hayato mumbles as he happily claps his hands, still holding the chopsticks.

He starts with one fried breaded baby shrimp and dips it in the yellowish sauce he finds in the small compartment on the left. After munching that down, he goes for a cherry tomato and then some tamagoyaki. He can’t help but moan a little bit after each bite and close his eyes in childish delight. He hasn’t had a homemade bento in months and even the homemade food he gets nowadays is not nearly as good as this one. This is high quality.

A loud ‘yummy!’ escapes from Hayato’s mouth and when he opens his eyes again, he notices the bento kid has slightly turned his face to the side and there’s a tiny smile forming in the corner of his lips. Hayato’s first instinct is to feel ashamed, then laughed at, because he’s the poor kid, he’s the one eating somebody else’s leftovers, he doesn’t have enough money to even buy lunch, he’s so pitiful, another boy, this rich boy, gave him his leftovers and is now laughing at-

The rich boy is actually blushing after catching his eyes and quickly turns to the front again. Hayato frowns.

“Yabuki!” Hayato hears the teacher say and when he raises his head the man is one step away from his desk. “Didn’t you say you didn’t have anything for lunch?”

Hayato stares dumbfoundedly at the man with wide eyes and swallows the food he’d been chewing on until then. He feels as if he’s been caught red-handed, but he can’t remember doing anything wrong. “Yes, but he-”.

“Isn’t that Odagiri-kun’s bento?” the man cuts in with a frown and when Hayato looks to the side, the rich kid has turned around too with a surprised expression on his face. “Odagiri-kun, did Yabuki force you to give him his lunch?”

Hayato lets out a loud, outraged ‘HUH!?’ and quickly stands up. _What the fuck is this dipshit sayin’?_ Hayato thinks in fury and feels his hands ball up and shake in anger at his sides. He’s no freaking bully!

He’s almost as tall as the teacher, he finds, and when Hayato gets near the man and glares right in his eyes, he swears he can feel the man imperceptibly shrinking in on himself.

“I didn’t do anything wrong,” Hayato lowly growls and doesn’t take his eyes off from the man’s. He’s _so_ tired. So freaking tired of people assuming he’s a bad boy. Of people assuming he’s a bully. He’s tired and angry and- _what’s the Odagiri boy doing?_

Odagiri-kun gently pushes Hayato one step back and steps between Hayato and the teacher, facing the older man. Hayato stares in disbelief. “He didn’t _force_ me to do anything. _I_ gave him my bento.”

Hayato’s jaw drops.

“Odagiri-kun, you don’t have to lie, if Yabuki-” the teacher starts with a much softer tone than the one he used with Hayato. His face is softer too. Where before there were frown lines and a snarl, now there’s an easy smile and gentle eyes.

“I’m not lying,” Odagiri interrupts the man with a firm tone that leaves no room for discussion and makes Hayato shiver. Odagiri raises his chin a little and continues. “I was done with my lunch and he didn’t have any. I went and offered him the rest so I wouldn’t have to throw it out. He didn’t force me into doing anything.”

The teacher stares at Odagiri and then past him at Hayato, who is still glaring at the man with a scowl on his face and his fists balled up at his sides in barely contained anger. “Seriously, Odagiri-kun, if Yabuki is giving you a hard time you-”.

“ _Yabuki_ is not the one giving me a hard time, _sensei_ ,” the boy mutters and Hayato watches as the teacher’s gentle smile freezes on his face.

“Odagiri, we’ve talked about this, you know I can’t…” the man stops and stares at Hayato and then at Odagiri again. He seems to be pondering something over. “Look, let’s- let’s discuss this outside, okay?”

Odagiri simply shrugs and slowly starts walking towards the door in a bored manner.

The teacher gives Hayato a once over and grunts disdainfully before following Odagiri outside. Hayato glares at the man even after he’s closed the door after himself. He stays there for a few seconds, standing beside his desk in anger and powerlessness and disbelief.

He can’t believe the teacher thought he had _what?_ punched Odagiri for his lunch? That he had threatened the other boy?

He hadn’t even asked for it! The boy _himself_ had offered and Hayato had accepted. And then the boy went and stood up for him too. _Fuck_ -

Now Hayato owes him one- no, _two_ , technically. _Fuck_.

Hayato sits down and finishes up the rest of the food in silence, his mind somewhere else.

The class fell silent after the scene Hayato and the other two made, but after Odagiri and the teacher left, the murmuring started. So that’s why Hayato almost misses the boy sitting two desks away from him—right in front of the rich kid’s—talking in hushed whispers to the chubby boy sitting diagonally to Hayato, one desk over to the right.

“You don’t think he tattled again, do you?” the boy with the bowl cut worriedly asks, and Hayato senses the boy sitting at the desk on his right straighten.

“He wouldn’t dare, Saku-chan,” the chubby boy answers as he shakes his head from side to side and snorts. “Don’t worry.”

The boy sitting on Hayato’s right nods in agreement and snorts too.

Hayato wonders.

•••••••••

Odagiri and the teacher had a lot to discuss it seems, because Hayato has already wiped out all the food in the bento and has even washed it by the time the other boy silently opens the classroom door and gets back in.

The boy walks over and halts in his step when he notices the clean black bento in the middle of his desk. He stares at it for a second. Hayato scratches the back of his head embarrassedly.

“Thank you,” Hayato mumbles, trying to look the boy in the eye and failing. He’s not used to people doing him favors. And he’s not used to saying ‘thank you’ either.

Hayato is relieved when Odagiri doesn’t make a fuss out of it and simply gives him a curt nod in acknowledgement—and a slight curl of his lips that would probably be a tiny smile on somebody else’s face—before dragging his chair back. Hayato nods back, and when Odagiri finally sits down, his eyes go further away and land on the bowl-cut kid, who is fidgeting in his seat.

Hayato shakes his head and stares out the window while he tries to shake off the feeling too.

He fails miserably.

•••••••••

Hayato meets Takeda during his second week.

Takeda is a tiny little boy with a chirpy voice and a happy-go-lucky nature that gets on Hayato’s nerves most of the time.

He starts following Hayato around after Hayato prevents two second year boys from beating the shit out of him in the boy’s restroom during Monday’s mid-morning break.

Well, it’s not so much Hayato actively preventing the beating up as Hayato telling the boys to _fuck off because he wants to pee and he cannot concentrate with all that noise_. The boys take a look at him, realize who he is and flee the restroom in a heartbeat.

After that, Takeda sticks to him like his life depends on it and Hayato can’t bother to tell him to get lost.

On Wednesday, Hayato asks Takeda why he’s not scared of him, when everyone at school seems to think he’s a punk and a bully. Takeda takes a big bite off his melon pan and ponders over the question. After some seconds he claims to be able to sense that _Yabuki-kun is a good boy deep down_ or some nonsense shit along those lines. Hayato snorts.

 _Takeda_ becomes _Take_ on Thursday when _Yabuki-kun_ becomes _Hayato_ instead.

(Take loves the nickname and Hayato’s secretly glad the other boy finds it cute.)

•••••••••

As Hayato’s friendship with Take starts to bloom, he can’t help but notice Odagiri’s always, _always_ alone.

He never tells Take about that first day, but Hayato can tell Take still realizes there’s something going on.

Take doesn’t comment on it, though, and Hayato is grateful for that.

•••••••••

Odagiri comes to school the Monday of Hayato’s third week with a limp and a bruised cheek.

Hayato doesn’t know what to feel about his suspicions being confirmed.

When he asks Take about it, the boy smiles and offhandedly tells him that, yes, Kawashima and his friends have been bullying Odagiri for a long time. But they only do it outside of school, so the teachers cannot do anything about it. Hayato feels his insides turn uncomfortably.

•••••••••

He doesn’t know why he cares, but he does. He tries to tell himself it’s just him trying to pay Odagiri back, but then Take tells him he heard Kawashima and his gang talk about going after Odagiri as soon as school was over, and he can’t help but hurriedly bid Take goodbye and run after them.

•••••••••

Take’s _See?! I knew you were good not so deep down!_ rings in his ears for days afterwards.


End file.
